One month down, two and a half to go!

Starting from where I left off, last Thursday I went with my host sister and her friend Sergio to Monfrague National Park, which is about one hour out of Caceres by car. It was perfect weather-like 75 degrees and sunny! We stopped at a castle and walked up very narrow steps to the top. There were no guard rails on the top of the castle so we had to be careful not to get too close to the edge but it was very cool looking out over the park. There were lots of olive trees and the Tajo River (I think). There were also a lot of red/orange rocks. I think the soil is pretty much the same color and it is hard to believe that so much can grow in this soil since it is nothing like the black soil of Iowa. We also stopped at a lookout to see some birds. The bird of Extremadura (the state Caceres is in) is the stork so there were a lot of storks we could see on top of a cliff. We kept driving and got to a town that has only one street and only 4 houses that are inhabited. Apparently they are trying to build cabins and make it into a touristy area. The town was having a bird convention last weekend so there were actually quite a few people walking around. Thursday night I packed and got ready for our trip.

On Friday, we got on a bus at 8am and left for Granada. We all slept almost the whole bus ride. We had to stop twice for the driver and to eat. At one of the rest stops, we found 2 very scragly dogs that we gave some extra food to. They ate it right up. As a note, there are quite a few stray cats who live in the street in Caceres. I wish they were safe to pet. We got to Granada around 4pm and went to La Capilla Real and La Catedral first. Basically it is 3 cathedrals built connected to each other. Our professor thinks it is the only place in the world that has such a thing. The first cathedral was built by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (If you remember, they were the people that Christopher Columbus got money from to go on his expedition to America). It was a pretty simple building with little decoration on the walls because Queen Isabella wanted it to be decorated in a humble manner. The king and queen were also buried in this cathedral in addition to their daughter, a prince, and another person. We got to see the crypt which had a window so you could see the lead caskets. Before the construction of that cathedral was finished, their son decided to have another cathedral built next door that was much more extravagant to show the prosper of Spain during their rule. This cathedral was huge and extravagantly decorated. It had 2 huge pipe organs.

After seeing the cathedrals, we went to our albergue. An albergue is like a cheap hostel that offers meals. We had a room with two beds and our own shower and bathroom! We ate at the dinning room in the hostel and then got ready to go out. We went to two bars in the city and then went to check out a discoteca. While we were talking as a group to decide whether or not to pay 10 euro to get into the discoteca, we were escorted out of the lobby by some security guards...guess we took to long! Oh well. We got to bed at about 4am.

On Saturday, we had breakfast at the albergue and left at 10am to go to La Alhambra, which translates into "The Red Fort" because the walls of made of a red clay like substance. Apparently Bill Clinton was very inspired by his visit here and thinks it is the most beautiful thing he has seen. I thought it was absolutely HUGE!! The palace is where the Muslim King lived. The outside walls have no decoration but the inside is absolutely covered with intricate design and decoration. I think that relates to a Muslim belief that the inside of a person is much more important than the outside. The main thing that we saw is the Palacio Nazaries. It is divided into 3 parts. The first part is where the King would receive citizens who had complaints. It is the public part of the palace. We saw where the king would sit, etc. There were a lot of mosaics on the walls and some that were actually poems or stories about the construction of the Alhambra. Each of the three parts had a patio with lots of vegetation and water because the Muslim's idea of paradise is a place filled with water and vegetation. Next, we moved to the semi-private part of the palace. This is where the king would receive diplomats from other nations. We saw where his throne would sit as well as where the people he consulted with would sit. The ceilings and walls were much more detailed in the architecture. There was also this beautiful, long fountain that we saw. Finally, we reached the private part of the palace. This is where the king, his wife, his mistresses, and his children lived. The king had a lot of women because that was a sign of power. They were not allowed to leave the palace or by seen by anyone from the outside. We saw the royal bedrooms and also a famous Fountain of Lions, which was a gift from another country.

After our visit to the Alhambra, we got back on the bus and went to Cordoba. It was about a 3 hour bus ride so we arrived at 10pm, had supper, and I went to bed. On Sunday morning, we got up early to try to get to Mass before we had to leave. We walked all over the city trying to find churches, which was difficult since they were not on our map. Eventually we found our way to the Monasterio de la Incarnacion-Monastery of the Incarnation. They had Mass at 9:30am so we decided to go. When we walked in, we were very surprised to see about 20 nuns sitting in the choir loft at the back of the church, dressed in black habits and white robes. There were about 6 older adults in the church and the 11 of us Americans. The nuns sang all of the songs for Mass and we all felt a little like we were in The Sound of Music. It was definitely a type of Mass none of us had ever experienced before. The priest directed the homily to us "jovenes"-young people-telling us to not be afraid to get to know God and that we should use Mary as an example for our lives, since she was once a young person like us. When we went up for Communion, they took the host and dipped it in wine. This was the first time we had experienced this too.

After Mass, we went back to the albergue to meet the rest of the group and go to an old city of ruins on the top of a hill just a short trip outside of the city. It wasn't really that exciting, just really windy! After that, we went back to the city, got lunch and ice cream and then went to La Mezquita-the Mosque. This was probably my favorite part of the weekend. First a little history: When the Christians/Catholics conquered a Muslim city, usually they destroyed the mosques or religious buildings and then built a Catholic Church over it to show their power. However, in Cordoba, they decided to keep the mosque and just build a cathedral inside and over part of the mosque. They also put lots of crosses around on the walls of the mosque part. The mosque is the only mosque in the world that was not built aligned with Meca. It was built in the direction that people would go if they would take a pilgramage to Meca. The cathedral was SO pretty and I will try to get pictures up sometime. I just don't think I can describe it well enough because it was so gorgeous.

After the mosque, we walked across a bridge that covers the river that Christopher Columbus set sail from when he went to America. We got back on the bus and got back to Caceres at 10:30pm. I skyped a few friends and went to bed.

Today, I got up and walked to school. I had 2 classes and then we finally booked our tickets for spring break. We will be going to Rome from the Wednesday before until the Monday after Palm Sunday and then will be going to Barcelona, Spain for about 4 days. It is going to be a lot of fun. Going to Rome is like my dream come true! I can't wait!!

Also, Sunday marked the end of our first month here in Spain! So much has happened and I can't wait for everything that we have coming up in the next couple months. Miss you all!!!

We found Catholic Teens!

Last night, we decided to meet up and go to see the movie Invictus that was advertised online as being free at a theater near the old part of the city. When we got there, it turned out to be a fundraiser for Catholic teens from Caceres to go to the World Youth Day in Madrid, which will be held in August. Since it was a fundraiser, it was unfortuately not free and the group decided not to go since a lot of us didn't bring money. We told them how much we wanted to go to World Youth Day but we just don't have the money to make it possible. They suggested selling cookies....I can only imagine how many thousand cookies I'd have to sell to get enough for the plane ticket. How nice it would be to only have to go 4 hours to Madrid to get there. However, we did get a chance to talk to some of the people there and apparently they have a Mass that they all go to on Sunday night at 8pm and they have a couple Bible studies and other activities that they do together. I gave one girl my contact info so I really hope they invite us to join them for some of their activities! It was very exciting to finally find some Spanish people our age who actually go to church! We have been looking for them ever since we got here!

Today I had all four of my classes and my professor prepared us for our trip to Granada and Cordoba this weekend. All 19 of us will be going as well as our professor and program director. We will visit La Alhambra, which is a palace in Granada, and La Mezquita, which is a really old mosque in Cordoba. It should be a very fun weekend!

Going back to my computer problem, I am so incredibly thankful that everything worked out! When I emailed my mom about what happened, she told me that she knew that God had a reason and a lesson for me that would come out of this and as hard as it was for me to hear that, I definitely can see it now. No matter if I am halfway across the world from my closest friends and family, God is still here with me. I also feel like I was being reminded that although I want to be independent and do things for myself, there are times when I need other people's help and God puts everyone in my life for a reason. I can definitely see God working in my life here which is so good!

It has been so good catching up on skyping with friends and family! I will continue to do that tonight as well as work on planning more of an itinerary for my dad and brother when they get to Spain. They will be here in 10 days! I am SOOOO excited to see them!!!

Buenas Noticias! Good News!

I am very happy to report that I got rid of my computer's virus myself! It is so nice to be able to get on the internet whenever I want now! I ended up googling the message that was on my wallpaper from the virus and downloaded a program that worked to get rid of it. What a relief!

On Saturday, we got up early and took the 6am bus to Madrid. We could not find any good prices on hostels or hotels before we left, so that was the first thing we did when we got there. We arrived at 10am and took our first trip on the metro to a station near the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, where Real Madrid plays. We walked up the street and found a hotel called Hotel Aitana which had a room with 2 single beds for a reasonable price. It was a super nice hotel!! There were 5 of us total staying in the room, so 4 slept on the beds and one slept on chair cushions on the floor. Also, the shower was great!! There was hot water and pretty good water pressure!! Best shower I've had in Spain so far!

Saturday afternoon, we went on the tour of the Real Madrid Stadium. We went through the trophy room, down to touch the field, sat in the seats that the players who are on the bench sit in during the game, and saw the press room. It was definitely more than you would get to see in any US football stadium due to not as much security here! We went to the Real Madrid v. Levante soccer game on Saturday night. It lasted about 2.5 hours total. By the way, it rained all day Saturday and during the entire game. Good thing our seats were in the nosebleed section so we had the overhang to protect us from the rain and heat lamps to keep us warm :)

After the game, we went out in the Puerta del Sol area of the city. There were lots of people out but all the discotecas cost quite a bit to get in, so we decided not to go there.

On Sunday, we went to El Rastro, which is a huge market in the city. They sold everything there...from powerstrips, to clothes, to fingernail polish, to flowers. It was pretty cool and there were lots of people there. Next, we went to the Prado Museum, but we decided we didn't have enough time to go in. At least we'll know how to get there when we go back to Madrid in the future. We went to the bus station and got something to eat before getting on our 5 hour bus ride home. We got back to Caceres at 10:30pm last night and everyone was really tired!

Today, I had classes and nothing much new has happened...I'll try to put up pictures of the game, etc. soon!

Mi Ordenador Enfermo

My computer has a virus. I was trying to make a powerpoint for my speech I will give next week on illnesses, and I clicked on a picture on Google of someone with a stomach ache and it downloaded a virus to my computer. I was very sad :( My sister had her friend look at it but he was not able to remove the virus. I think I will have to format my hard drive and delete everything to get rid of the virus. Luckily I had backed up my documents to a flash drive on Sunday, so those are safe. The only problem is my pictures. There were too many to save to my flash drive, so I didn't worry about it on Sunday, but now I am uploading them onto shutterfly and Kodak websites so I don't lose them. It takes forever but I know it will be worth it! It's a very unfortunate thing to have happen but I'm getting over it and moving on.

Last night (Thursday) we went to the filmoteca to see Toy Story 3. We thought that it would be in English like the movie last week and were very surprised when the characters started talking in Spanish. They even sang the songs in Spanish..."Hay un amigo en mi"=You've Got a Friend in Me. We learned some phrases like "al infinito y mas alla"=to infinity and beyond! and "hay un serpiente en me bota"=there's a snake in my boot. The movie only costs one euro and we always stop at the Sanchez-Cortes candy store to buy gummy bears before going in.

After the movie, I went home, had supper, and went out. We went to a new discoteca and then to La Habana for a party with the Erasmus students. It was lots of fun and there was lots of music in English. I also ran into my sister and her friends there. I met so many new people that I can hardly remember any of their names. When La Habana closed at 3AM, we headed toward another area of town that opens later in the night. I didn't stay long because another person wanted to go home so I walked back with her. We were out til 4AM!! Latest I've ever stayed out!

Today I slept in, had lunch, and am working on homework. Yes, we finally got homework. I have to finish my powerpoint for my speech, write a reflection paper on our trip to Merida, read a couple chapters in a book, and translate an American recipie into Spanish (I'm doing Corn on the Cob). We leave tomorrow morning at 6am on a bus to go to Madrid!!! Can't wait!

Mi Casa-Part 1

Today we rode the bus to school because it was absolutely pouring rain. We were all soaked by the time we walked from the bus stop to our building at the university even though we were using umbrellas. I had all 4 of my classes today, which tends to be a bit long since we sit there for 4 hours straight with no break. Everyday my host mom makes me a cheese sandwich and gives me a juice box to take as a snack. After classes, thankfully the rain was over. We took the bus home and I had lunch with my sister and host mom. Clara made lemonade from the lemons that her dad gave us. It was really good. This afternoon, my host sister and I watched last week's episode of Grey's Anatomy. She absolutely loves that show and so do I!

Casey, Lizzy, and I are starting to make our plans for Italy. The cities on our list to visit are Rome, Florence, Venice, and Siena. We will only have about 7.5 days there, so we will try to see as much as we can. Also, a couple days ago we booked our tickets to go to Ireland for the weekend after St. Patrick's Day!!! I'm so excited! I will get to visit my friend Abby who is studying abroad in Cork for a couple days and then we will spend 2 days in Dublin.

I've decided to put up some pictures of where I live. I'll put up more tomorrow hopefully but for now, the kitchen and living room!

The Kitchen! We have plastic yellow chairs to sit on and pretty much every meal we have to get the stool from the bathroom for someone to sit on since there are 3 of us.
Washing machine on the left. They do not have dryers here-only washers so everything is hung out on the line to dry. There is a dishwasher in the middle/right of the picture.

Microwave and Oven

There is always fresh fruit on the table. Refrigerator is on the left and freezer is below.

Every living room has a table like this with heater underneath. The blankets go down over the heater to keep the heat in. You can put them over yourself and warm up while watching TV.

Living Room

TV :) They don't have many channels here and my family doesn't have cable. They sometimes watch American shows like Extreme Makeover Home Edition that are dubbed over in Spanish. They watch a lot of tv!!

More living room.

Tomorrow I'll try to post pictures of my room and the bathroom!

Hasta luego!

/

Rain, Rain Go Away

It rained and was overcast almost all of the day today :( Only about 45 degrees here and a little bit windy. Hard to believe that the weather in Iowa was probably better than the weather here today! Went to classes this morning and gave a speech. I really love the two classes I had today-Spanish Conversation and Phonetics. The professors for both are really good at teaching and keep class interesting! They are probably my favorite 2 classes.

The Spanish grading system is much different than what we have in the US. First of all, there is no such thing as Web CT, where we can go and view our scores for each assignment, test, quiz, and project. I think we will not know what are grades are until we finish the semester. When we get back assignments, the professor does not put a grade on them, but instead a word. It can say Mal, Bien, Muy Bien, or Perfecto. Each word is associated with a number on a 10 point scale:

Mal= less than 5
Bien=5-6
Muy Bien=7-8
Perfecto=9-10

Then, at the end of the course, the teacher translates those numbers into a number on a 4 point scale:

Mal=1=F
Bien=2=C
Muy Bien=3=B
Perfecto=4=A

It is a very rare occasion that professors give perfectos (9-10). Students here only have to pass the classes (Bien), so they are not very concerned about getting the highest grade possible. I am very proud to say that I got my first "Perfecto" on an essay today for my Phonetics class :)

After class, I came home on the bus because of the rain and had lunch with my sister and host mom. We had french fries! They were definitely not as good as American french fries, but still good. My host mom and sister asked me what I thought about President Obama and Bush and Sarah Palin. It is so crazy how much they know about the US. I never realized how big of an impact our country had on the world.

This afternoon, I took a siesta, skyped a friend, and went to the bus station to buy a ticket for this weekend. We are going to Madrid on Saturday and coming back on Sunday. We are getting tickets to see Real Madrid (a professional soccer team) play on Saturday night. I am SOOO excited!!!

Tonight, we all went to Cafe Dipas to meet some Spanish people and have a dialogue with them. We spoke in Spanish and they spoke in English, and we helped correct each other. It was a very good time. I met Raul, Dani, and two people named Carmen. I think we will be doing this almost every week.

Feliz Día de San Valentín!

Happy Valentine's Day! This holiday is not celebrated very much in Spain. I think only couples celebrate it. I saw lots of people carrying around roses this afternoon so they must give flowers as a gift. I saw this cute little old man walking with a cane in his right hand and a single red rose wrapped in plastic in his left. He was so cute I wish I had taken a picture! At school, we learned about the legend of San Valentin and how he married people in secret until he was arrested and killled.

It rained and was overcast most of today. It was pretty cold and windy too which is a big change from our weather last week. This afternoon, Bev, Casey, Cory and I went to get frozen yogurt from a frozen yogurt store near the Plaza Mayor. It was pretty good and I tried nutella for the first time. It was so good!!! Tonight, Mariah, Alex, Lizzy, Courtney, and I started our Bible Study. It was a very good session! Tomorrow I have to give a speech on my major and what I want to do when I graduate from college. There is no translation for physician's assistant in Spanish, and I don't think such a career exists outside the US.